What causes night terrors in children?

Night terrors are a common symptom among babies. The biggest harm of night terrors to children is that it affects their sleep. Once the quality of children's sleep declines, it will not only affect their physical health, but also their normal growth and development. Therefore, for children's night terrors, we must first find the cause and then relieve and treat it. Below, we will introduce the causes of night terrors in children in detail.

1. Etiology and pathogenesis

During childhood, due to the delicate internal organs and timid spirit, children will often become distracted and unable to sleep at night due to sudden unusual sounds, seeing strange objects, or some illnesses, which will lead to night crying and night terrors.

2. Clinical manifestations

The typical symptoms of night terrors can be summarized as: sudden screaming and crying during sleep, crying and stopping from time to time, or crying at regular intervals, or even all night long, with extreme fear, sweating, rapid breathing, and accelerated heart rate. Generally, when waking up, there is no memory of the night terror attack. They are quiet during the day, and usually have no symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, mouth ulcers, boils, or trauma. The number of attacks is uncertain, usually occurring for several days or dozens of days in a row, or once every few days.

3. Treatment Methods

1. Treat based on syndrome differentiation

Children with spleen deficiency can take spleen-strengthening medicines such as Xiao Jianzhong Decoction and Sijunzi Decoction; children with internal heat or frightened and nervous can take Xiaoer Qizhen Pills orally.

2. Diet adjustment

Eat more yam porridge and vegetables and fruits, eat less fatty and greasy food, do not overeat at dinner, and eat regularly.

3. Chiropractic

The child lies prone, lifts up his shirt to expose his entire waist and back. The practitioner first massages the child's back up and down with warm hands several times to relax the muscles, then half-clenches his hands and starts from the Changqiang point under the child's coccyx. Use the thumb to scratch the side edge and press the skin, and press the index and middle fingers forward. Use the three fingers to exert force at the same time to pinch and lift the skin of the Changqiang point. Then, along the Du channel from bottom to top, the left and right hands cooperate alternately, in the order of pushing, pinching, twisting, releasing, and lifting, from the Changqiang point under the coccyx forward to the Dazhui point at the upper end of the spine. This is one time. Generally, the skin on the back will be lifted every three pinches. Repeat this 6 times. 2 weeks is a course of treatment.

4. Preventive health care

A bad family environment, poor bedroom ventilation, polluted air, high temperature, overeating at dinner, criticism from teachers or parents, etc. are also triggers of night terrors in children. Therefore, it is particularly important to fully understand children's potential worries and provide support at any time, increase contact and communication between parents and children, and create a good family environment; improve the sleeping environment, sleeping habits and eating habits, maintain a regular life, improve children's sleep quality, and pay attention to the supplementation of calcium and vitamin D deficiencies to prevent night terrors.